Without You
by wintrMoon
Summary: For Dark Yugi, apologizing to Yugi for the suffering he had caused his soul is not enough, believing that the compensation should be losing their partnership for good. But in the end, he has to face the truth that he can no longer deny: They can't survive without each other. (Whether or not it's puzzleshipping depends on your perspective.) Post-DOMA arc. Oneshot.


_Hi everyone! I'm back, with a fic centered on Yugi and Dark Yugi this time. I find their bond wonderful and powerful. Whether or not this is puzzleshipping depends on your point of view; even I find it ambiguous, so it could work either way. But I want to share my love for the bond between these two characters. So I hope you'll enjoy reading this. _

_If you spot any errors, I'm sorry. Please bear with me._

_And as always, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. _

* * *

"Other Me, please answer me!"

He wouldn't.

"Can you hear me?" That persistent knock, almost like an agitated heartbeat. Pleading. "Please open the door!"

He couldn't.

"Answer me please!" The knocking now grew harder, louder. "Why won't you talk to me? Why are you avoiding me? Is there something going on between us?"

His back leaning against the cold door, Dark Yugi could feel the pounding impossibly coursing through the thickness of the door, hitting him as many times as Yugi's words of plea hammering his chest. He shut his eyes tight, fervently wanting to deny them. But he couldn't.

He thought that it was all over. That by saving both his and the Duel Monsters' worlds, that by dealing with the darkness residing in his heart, everything would come to a close. When Yugi's soul came back, happiness had reigned over him, albeit momentarily, because right after that, all his emotions were keyed in defeating Dartz and the Great Leviathan.

But it was only after things had settled down that Dark Yugi found himself unable to go to Yugi's soul room anymore. That he couldn't even stand _near _Yugi's door anymore, and each time he tried, his chest would be choked by great shame. Having noticed this peculiar reaction, Yugi had invited him in. But Dark Yugi had felt so ashamed of himself that he had even turned down the invitation, much to Yugi's confusion, and locked himself inside his tomb of a room.

His hands clutched his bowed head.

He had screwed up. Big time.

He had broken Yugi's trust.

How could he really face his partner anymore?

He may have already dealt with the darkness of his heart.

But not its ugly regrets.

They all came rushing back, in full force, stronger than the gush of water held back by a big dam. And in the silence of his dark room, he heard again the growing strong and then clamoring voices of what was now really left between him and Yugi.

_You've brought this upon yourself._

_Don't be fooled by his mask of a smile. He just doesn't want you to see how much he hates you.  
_

_He'll never forget what you put him through._

_What makes you think he'd ever trust you again?_

_You don't actually_ dare_ hope he'd forgive you, do you?_

Only guilt and shame now bridged the gap between them, which, even as Yugi made no show of it, reminded Dark Yugi that things would never be the same between them again. Not only was he not worthy to be in Yugi's room. He was not even worthy to be in Yugi's _presence._

The pounding ceased gradually, only to let tense silence settle between them. Silence so thick and heavy, even the tip of the Millennium Puzzle could pierce and lacerate a clean path through it.

"What did I do wrong?"

The question came out so unexpected, so _meek_ and so _wrong_ that Dark Yugi's eyes snapped open in bafflement.

"That must be it. You wouldn't be behaving like this if I hadn't wronged you." Never had Yugi sounded so _convinced_, only adding to the horrible knotting sensation inside the pharaoh's already crumbling self. "Whatever it is, I'm really sorry, Other Me. I'll do anything to make it up to you, I promise!"

_Please stop._ Stiff hands now balled into fists so tightly, they could draw blood had he been doing it physically. _Don't say anything anymore..._

"Anything, you name it! But I need you to tell me what it is so that I can apologize to you properly." The knocking on the door was now soft yet painfully urgent. "Please, Other Me, open the door and let me apologize to you in person!"

The situation was so _wrong_ in more ways than one that he couldn't stand it any longer. Yugi's _desperate_ tone horrified Dark Yugi to the core, unseen daggers stabbing him. Not being able to bear Yugi say such things, and worse, about to actually _carry them out_, he quickly turned around and pulled his door ajar.

Yugi stood before him, a concerned look on his face. "Other Me..."

He looked away, still unable to look Yugi in the eye.

"Other Me..." Yugi faltered for a while. "I knew it; you're mad at me."

He kept his gaze away, wanting to protest, yet guilt held back his tongue.

"Please answer me." Yugi tried to meet his eyes but he kept avoiding them. "Why won't you look at me?" he asked, sounding crestfallen. "Talk to me. Shout at me, curse me, anything! Just answer me!" Desperation brimmed in his tone. "_Please_ look at me!"

Against his inner wishes, Dark Yugi slowly turned his head to meet Yugi's gaze. But when he saw that very innocent plead in his eyes, it broke him inside so much that he couldn't take it anymore. "I... I..."

Yugi seemed startled. "O-Other Me?"

Falling on his knees, he quickly bowed so lowly before Yugi, his hands and even his head touching the cold floor. He shut his eyes tight. "I'm so sorry!"

Yugi was shocked and horrified at this. "Other Me, please stand up!"

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," he continued. "I should have listened to you when you warned me about playing the Seal of Orichalcos..."

"Other Me!" Yugi bent down, trying to pull him up but he refused. "You don't have to do this. Please get up!"

But Dark Yugi remained rooted on his spot, stubbornly refusing again and again no matter how many times Yugi tried to get him back on his feet. "Because of me, your soul was taken... Because of me, you've suffered so greatly..."

"Other Me, please!"

"...so please, Yugi, don't call me Other Me anymore..."

Yugi's big eyes widened. "W-What are you saying?" Confused. Stricken. "Why are you saying all these?"

"...as I am not worthy to be with you any longer..."

Yugi's hands balled into fists. "No..."

"...nor do I any longer have the right to call you Partner..."

"No!"

"...for I don't deserve being your partner anymore."

"_No!_"

"Yugi..."

He covered his ears with his hands, shutting his eyes tight. "Stop saying my name!"

Dark Yugi raised himself in all fours yet kept his face bowed. "It would be better for you to disassemble the Puzzle. If you don't, I'll do it myself."

Yugi looked as though Dark Yugi had just basically told him to kill himself right now. "Other Me!" he cried, anguished and in mixed horror and disbelief.

"Maybe you shouldn't have assembled the Puzzle in the midst of the fire in the warehouse." His voice dropped as he looked away. "Back then I was very thankful. But now, it must have been a mistake."

Silence. Heavy silence.

"I can't believe this..."

Dark Yugi looked up.

"I don't believe this..." Yugi was rigid, ball-fisted, his voice shaking.

Shaking and _hard_.

Dark Yugi stood on his knees. _Yugi..._

"I _refuse _to believe _any_ of this!" he finally exploded, his usually kind face now hardened.

Dark Yugi was taken aback. Never had he witnessed Yugi this _mad_, and even worse, mad at_ him_.

"How could you say such trash like that!" Yugi's smaller frame trembled in anger. "You're just going to throw away all the victories and failures that we have? The _partnership_ that we _built?"_

The other duelist's eyes widened. "Y-Yugi..."

"Why? Are you the Nameless Pharaoh? Are you the other Yugi? No, you're none of those things to me!"

His words struck Dark Yugi. Hard.

Yugi marched toward him. The pharaoh braced himself for the worst, ready to accept what he deserved.

But Yugi knelt down to his level... and, to his shock, loosely hugged him, the hug as gentle as Yugi was.

"No..." Yugi continued, his voice now softening. "To me, you're my other self."

Dark Yugi's eyes widened. "Yugi..."

"I'm angry with you right now for what you said," Yugi uttered, making Dark Yugi flinch. "But not as angry as I am with myself."

His words surprised Dark Yugi. Yet he didn't dare to move at the moment.

"I am the cause of your guilt and pain." Yugi still didn't let go of him. "Anzu told me everything, including your duel with Haga-kun and later with 'me' as the mirror of the darkness in your heart. She even detailed how torn you were, how anguished your heart was, how hard you cried. To get my soul back... You've suffered so much, even right now, because of me."

"Not as much as _you_ did because of _me_," he protested. "No, Yugi. You suffered first because I listened to the darkness in my heart instead of to you. Why didn't I take heed? _You _paid the heavy consequences that _I_ should have endured."

"You did everything you could to bring me back. How could I not forgive you? I understand how you feel..." Yugi trailed off for a while. "...because I have already gone through it, too."

Dark Yugi jerked at this as Yugi released him from his hug. "What do you mean?"

"That time you've mentioned earlier, when Bandit Keith smashed the Millennium Puzzle... I thought I had lost you for good." For a while Yugi's eyes grew distant as though he was recalling it. "It was my fault how you ended up in that dire situation. I had—no, I _wanted—_to form the Puzzle, even if it meant I burned to death, because I wanted to see you again and apologize."

Dark Yugi looked at him in wonder. _Apologize?_

_"I'm sorry, Other Me. I got your soul broken! Just wait! I_ will_ complete the Puzzle! Once I do, we'll meet again and apologize to you." Hot sweat coated Yugi's contrite face as he assembled the Millennium Puzzle piece by piece. Walls of fire raged all around him, as the warehouse began to fall apart. "Just a little more…! Just a little more and I can meet you again…!"_

That was right. He had felt Yugi's guilt. Just like how Yugi felt his, now.

How could his host be so impossibly understanding? So forgiving when Dark Yugi deserved nothing but his eternal hatred?

"I thought I'd never see you again. It took me eight years to put the Millennium Puzzle together the first time around." Yugi stood up, walking a few steps away from Dark Yugi. "But during the fire crisis, it took me only a few minutes to do it. It's as if..." He turned to look Dark Yugi in the eye. "It's as if you were helping me complete it."

Dark Yugi stood on his feet. "...I was."

"Other Me."

"If the Puzzle is not complete, I won't be able to come out; that's true. But remaining trapped in the Puzzle otherwise was not the reason I was helping you."

"Then why..."

"I didn't care about my existence anymore. But what I cared about was that I had to see you again." As he looked down, his hand balled at the memory. "I also wanted to see you again. I... couldn't... bear to lose you..."

Yugi's big eyes widened. "Other Me..."

Now he gazed up at him. "I wanted to get your soul back the soonest I could. Being trapped there for so long... It must have been a torturous experience for you."

"It's true. Being trapped there like that—the feeling of how scary and lonely it is... But such a feeling didn't overwhelm me. And you know why?"

Dark Yugi remained silent.

"It's because I always believed that, along with Kaiba-kun and Jounouchi-kun, _you_ would rescue me."

It left him stunned. _Yugi..._

_Stunned and lost, Dark Yugi remained frozen on his spot as the Seal of Orichalcos was closing in on him._

_Suddenly he was pushed forward, outside the magical circle. Surprised, he turned his head... and was shocked at what he saw. "Partner..." _

_Indeed, it was Yugi who now stood in his place. _

_Dark Yugi whirled around, horrified. "Partner!" _

_Yugi looked at him, unafraid, still smiling as his soul began to fade from the pharaoh's sight. "I believe in you, Other... Me..."_

He still trusted Dark Yugi despite the gravest sin he had committed against him. What could Dark Yugi possibly have done to deserve having such an impossibly good-willed partner like Yugi?

"As I've said earlier, how could I not forgive you? You're my other self. You, who always stuck by me and defended me when no one else aside from Anzu would. You, who always protected me and looked out for me even though I was scared of you. You, who trusted me despite knowing how ordinary and weaker I am than you..."

"Weaker than me?" he echoed in disbelief. "How could you say that?"

Yugi looked down. "Without your courageous heart, I'm afraid. Without your confidence, I'm always weak and certain to lose. Without your spirit, I don't know what to do." He looked up at Dark Yugi.

"Without you, I am nothing."

For a while Dark Yugi was at a loss for words, with Yugi's deep words saturating his entire being. "Yugi, I didn't know you felt that way."

"Well, what can I say?" That gentle smile again. "You're not just my other self. You're also my partner. As partners, we commit mistakes. But as partners, we forgive."

_Yugi..._

Nothing about Dark Yugi's darkness would be able to taint the light in Yugi's character. Yugi had been trying to make him realize that the entire time. It was only right that this light be allowed to banish the shadows of guilt and shame lingering in his heart... and it was only right that Dark Yugi finally accepted that.

And now, he realized how their responses wouldn't be that different had the circumstances been altered. If Yugi hadn't pushed him outside the Seal of Orichalcos, despite his regret the pharaoh would have said the same thing: _I believe in you, Partner._ And if it had been Yugi who had played that card, if they were in each other's places right now, Dark Yugi would place his hands on Yugi's trembling shoulders to reassure him.

But Yugi had hugged him instead.

"Then..." He approached Yugi. "I should have done this when you came back."

He hugged Yugi tightly.

Yugi froze in shock. "O-Other Me...?"

"I missed you so much," he murmured. "Welcome back... Partner."

For a while Yugi didn't move. But soon he relaxed, closing his eyes. "I missed you too... Other Me."

He pressed Yugi's frame against his own harder, tightening his hug.

And at that moment that he didn't let Yugi go, all Dark Yugi's emotions and longing to see his partner during the period when Yugi's soul was gone came rushing back. They channeled themselves through his arms around the smaller boy, making the hug more substantial.

More valuable.

Finally he let go of Yugi, who was now smiling. "Partner." Never had it felt so good to say that word again.

"Well, Other Me, it's been a long day. Week, actually. We could still hang out in my room if you want, but I guess for now it would be better for us to rest. Tomorrow we'll discuss the unsealing of your memories when we come home to Japan."

"Ah," he agreed. "Get enough rest."

Yugi turned to his door. "Well then, I'm going now. Good night, Other Me."

"Partner."

He paused, looking back. "Yeah?"

Dark Yugi opened his mouth but then shut it. "...Nothing." He watched Yugi open the door and enter. "I'll see you tomorrow, Partner."

Yugi smiled one last time before closing the door behind him.

Leaving Dark Yugi standing alone in the hallway.

_Unsealing of my memories..._

Even after the trouble DOMA and the Seal of Orichalcos brought, everything still led to this point. Until he had lost Yugi's soul, Dark Yugi had always believed that eventually leaving Yugi behind would be something difficult but not impossible to do. Now he wasn't so certain anymore.

_I wish you would see how wrong you are about being at a loss without me._ He gazed at Yugi's door.

I'm_ the one who does not know what to do._

_The Great Leviathan surged down, meeting Dark Yugi head-on as he shouldered all its anger and hatred, took in the darkness of heart within Atlantis. He cried out loud, struggling to not succumb to it. To defeat._

_Yugi ran toward him. "Other Me!"_

_Dark Yugi turned his head. "Stay back, Partner!"_

_Yugi halted, confused._

_"This is my battle! With my way of justice and beliefs on the line! But this is different from before. Partner, the day will come when the two of us must part ways! A time will come when the both of us will have to fight a difficult battle on our own! And that time is now!" _

He was wrong. That battle was not the time.

The time was _now._

He turned around to turn the doorknob of his room, then stopped.

_Partner, how do I do this? Tell me._ Without Yugi's gentle and understanding heart, he couldn't sense what was right and what was wrong. Without Yugi's guidance and support, he was lost and helpless. Without Yugi's presence, he was afraid.

Without Yugi, he was just a lifeless being.

_This has to stop._ This danger of their partnership in which they compensated each other, both in strength and weakness. This danger of their growing extreme closeness where they grew dependent on each other. _Too _dependent, that one couldn't survive without the other.

_Partner._ His back still faced Yugi's door as he opened his own to enter the darkness of his room. His first instinct was to look back but he forced himself not to.

He had to let go of that name reserved only for Yugi. Had to start getting used to Yugi's absence little by little. Had to go through decisions and situations with or without Yugi's help or support. It seemed impossible but he had to do it.

For separation from Yugi would be the eventual and ultimate result of getting his memories back. Dark Yugi must learn how to go on in his path alone.

_Because even just now, I cannot live without you._

* * *

_The end. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this oneshot (unless it sucked, of course). Please review and tell me what you think. Who knows, it might inspire me enough to do another Yugi–Dark Yugi fic. ; ) Thanks! _


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